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SINGAPORE Oct 22 (Reuters) - China will extend its prized
offshore renminbi investment scheme to Singapore, the Monetary
Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Tuesday, as Beijing
internationalises its yuan currency in the Asia-Pacific region
and beyond.

Other agreements announced on Tuesday to coincide with the
visit of Chinese Executive Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli to
Singapore, include plans to introduce direct currency trading
between the yuan and Singapore dollar, entrenching Singapore's
position as Asia's largest centre for FX trading.

The aggregate quota of 50 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) for
Singapore under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional
Investor (RQFII) will let qualified Singapore-based
institutional investors use offshore yuan deposits to buy
Chinese stocks and bonds, the MAS said in a statement.

China has been gradually relaxing restrictions on the use of
the yuan with a view to eventually making the currency fully
convertible. Last week, British Chancellor (finance minister)
George Osborne said China will extend the RQFII to London and
give investors there the right to buy up to 80 billion yuan of
Chinese securities.

China and Singapore also said they will set up a working
group to promote bilateral trade in services as well work on
letting approved China-incorporated companies list directly in
Singapore instead of through entities incorporated outside
China.

During a state visit to Indonesia by President Xi Jinping
earlier this month, the country's firms secured some $32.8
billion of financing and investment from their Chinese
counterparts.
($1 = 6.0925 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Eric Meijer)